Another Husky leaves

STORRS - After months of speculation, it took 15 minutes of deliberation with UConn men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun for Marcus Williams to decide to turn pro.

Williams, a 6-foot-3 junior from Los Angeles, met with Calhoun about 10 days ago to discuss leaving school early for the NBA.

As far as Calhoun was concerned, the move was a no-brainer, after several NBA scouts, coaches and general managers all told Calhoun that Williams was ready.

"Coach was the only one talking," grinned Williams, who is widely projected as a top-10 pick in this summer's draft. "He laid out all the information: the positives and the negatives. He asked me what I thought about it and I agreed with everything he said."

With that, Williams declared himself eligible for the 2006 NBA Draft on June 28 in New York.

Williams made the announcement Tuesday during a press conference at Gampel Pavilion attended by his father, Kelly Williams; the UConn coaching staff; and several UConn players, including Danbury walk-on Osazee Omokaro.

Williams is the third UConn underclassmen to declare for this year's NBA draft. He joins junior forward Josh Boone and sophomore forward Rudy Gay.

Last year, players drafted in those two slots earned a rookie salary between $1.8 million and $1.6 million, according to the NBA's collective bargaining agreement.

And yet, Tuesday's announcement hardly came as a surprise.

Williams, who was arrested last summer for his role in the theft of four laptop computers from a campus dormitory, was sentenced to accelerated rehabilitation last September. If he completes 18 months of probation, including 400 hours of community service, the charges will be erased from his criminal record.

"I got in trouble this past summer and I think it opened my eyes to where I won't make that same mistake again," said Williams, who sat out the first 11 games of the season and was heckled by opposing fans the rest of the way. "It made me grow up a lot faster than I wanted to, but I needed it."

Kelly Williams witnessed the transition up close.

"We always felt his game was ready for the NBA. I was more concerned about off-the-court issues and him mentally," Kelly Williams said. "Once he went through what he went through this past year, we felt it was time for him to move on.

"He can't improve too much more on where he is right now in the draft unless he's a top-three player next year. And we all know that's not going to happen."

Calhoun, meanwhile, took offense to the notion that Williams owed UConn another year of playing basketball.

"It's been mentioned that maybe Marcus should stay another year because he owes me for being in his corner," Calhoun said. "He never asked me to be in his corner. He doesn't owe me anything."

Although Williams has trimmed his list of potential agents to two, he declined to name them Tuesday.

Either way, Calhoun isn't worried. He knows Williams is well prepared for the next level, after leaving UConn as the Big East's all-time assist leader in conference games with 8.1 apg.

"With his ability and vision of the game," Calhoun said, "the sky's the limit."